


Not a mix up

by victor1a



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual!Lance, Boys In Love, Cat!Keith, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Hurt/Comfort, Hybrid!Keith, Love Confessions, M/M, Mating, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Misgendering, More tags to be added, Past Abuse, Pining Lance (Voltron), Slow Burn, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, Trans!Keith, gay!keith, this is me coping with a writer's block
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-10-13 15:38:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17490674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/victor1a/pseuds/victor1a
Summary: Nyma smiles nervously. ‘’ It’s not a mix up. She just thinks she’s a male but trust me, she’s got everything a female does.’’| In which Lance gets a trans hybrid |





	1. Chapter 1

‘’Oh man, this is going to be so great!’’ Lance exclaims into the microphone of his earphones. His phone rests on the phone holder in his car with the screen showing an ongoing call with Hunk. 

 

‘’Are you really sure though? Owning a hybrid is a lot of work.’’ Lance can imagine Hunk biting his lip anxiously, but he just shrugs and then realizes Hunk can’t see him. 

 

‘’Nah, it’s gonna be fine. You know with how many people I grew up and had to help take care of, I can take care of one hybrid,’’ he replies. The smile hasn’t left his face since he got his paycheck and he doubts it will go away anytime soon. 

 

Lance has waited for years to save up enough money to buy a cat hybrid and supply them with everything they need. He just still doesn’t know if he wants a male or female, so he got everything in neutral colors. 

 

‘’If you say so. Hey I gotta run, Pidge is requesting help with something they’ve been working on.’’ 

 

‘’Sure thing, I’m at the shelter anyway. Say hi to that little gremlin.’’ 

 

‘’Will do,’’ Hunk laughs and hangs up. 

 

Lance takes out the earphones and finds a parking spot near the shelter’s door. Excitement runs through his veins like hot lava and he has to stop himself from jumping up and down on the spot. 

 

The door opens with a jingle from the bell above it. The first thing Lance sees is a front desk with a girl sitting behind it. She looks up and smiles when she notices Lance. 

 

‘’Hello, welcome to Voltron’s Shelter! What can I do for you today?’’ It’s so obvious to Lance how fake her enthusiasm is but he bites his tongue and focuses on what he got there for. 

 

‘’I would like to check out your cat hybrids, please,’’ he says politely. 

 

‘’Male or female?’’ 

 

‘’I’d like to check out both, I still haven’t really decided which I want more,’’ Lance answers, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. 

 

The girl, whose name tag reads Nyma, nods her head and gets up from the desk. She walks towards the door on her left and motions to Lance to follow her. 

 

Inside Lance is greeted with rows and rows of cages filled with female hybrids, each sitting in the front, presenting themselves, waiting to be noticed and picked. 

 

He walks slowly, but none of them appeal to him. They all seem so identical; each of them is kneeling on their knees in front of the cage doors, backs straight to show off their chest, hairs all long and curled, faces full of makeup. 

 

Lance is ready to give up on the females and get to the males when he notices a hybrid in the last cage. She’s not like the others, up in front and all dolled up. When Lance gets closer he notices she isn’t even a  _ she _ , but a  _ he.  _

 

He turns to Nyma with a confused face. ‘’I think there was a mix-up or something, this one is clearly a male.’’ 

 

Nyma smiles nervously. ‘’ It’s not a mix-up. She just thinks she’s a male but trust me, she’s got everything a female does.’’ 

 

Lance’s blood boils. He turns back to the hybrid in the cage and observes him closer. He’s curled up in the corner, arms covering his chest and visibly shaking. He’s dressed in old, ripped trousers and a thin shirt that barely covers his stomach. Lance’s vision gets blurry with rage at how they treat him and he has to clench his fists to not lash out on Nyma. 

 

The hybrid’s hair and ears are matted and look like they haven’t been washed in weeks. His tail is the same. Lance looks him in the eyes for the first time and sees only pain. He’s practically begging for somebody to save him. 

 

‘’I’ll take him,’’ he says firmly, getting up and turning to Nyma with a hard look in his eyes. 

 

‘’Are you sure? Out of all these beauti - ‘’ 

 

‘’Do you want my money or not?’’ That shuts her up. She sighs and goes to the cage. Opening it up she takes a leash hanging from it and pulls the hybrid out. 

 

Standing up, his shirt rises to uncover more than half his stomach and he tries to pull it down, but as he moves his hands his chest gets uncovered. He pulls them back immediately, curling in on himself as much as he can. 

 

Lance takes off his jacket and slowly approaches him. The hybrid flinches back to which Lance stops and just holds the jacket as far as his arm can reach. 

 

The hybrid looks at it longingly, and after a moment slowly reaches out to take it. He wraps it around himself and sigs. 

 

‘’Whatever. You need to sign this and pay and we’re done here.’’ Nyma hands him a piece of paper and a pen. 

 

Lance takes it, signs his name at the line and hands her the cash. He takes the leash connected to the hybrids collar with disgust and slowly takes him to his car. He lets the leash go once they’re in front of his black Mazda and lets him choose where he wants to sit. The hybrid chooses the back. 

 

Lance gets into the driver's seat and first sends a text to Hunk, informing him he will be calling later to rant in rage. He receives an immediate ‘’oh shit, okay’’ and begins the ride to his apartment. 

 

‘’My name’s Lance, by the way. I understand you might not want to talk to me anytime soon, but that’s okay. I’ve been told I can talk for ten people. I just want to say that you’re not a  prisoner with me. You don’t have to stick with me if you have anywhere else to go. ‘’ 

 

The hybrid doesn’t say anything for a while. Lance accepts it and just hums a random melody to fill the silence. 

 

When they get close to Lance’s apartment, the hybrid squeaks out: ‘’Keith.’’ 

 

‘’Sorry, what?’’ 

 

‘’Keith. That’s my name.’’ 

 

Lance beams. His voice is deep and rough, but warm. He catches Keith’s eyes in the rearview mirror and sees a spark of light that wasn’t there before. 

 

‘’Nice to meet you, Keith.’’ 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

“The shower's right there, you can go and jump in. I'll leave some of my clothes outside the door for you,” Lance says with a warm smile as he points to the door straight ahead of them. 

 

Keith has his arms around his chest still and looks around shyly. He doesn't say anything, just nods and slowly walks to the bathroom door. 

 

Lance steps to his right through the door to his room and rummages through his closet for a pair of thicker trousers and a bigger shirt. He finds one left over by Hunk and grabs some socks and underwear from his drawer. 

 

He leaves it all in a neat pile in front of the door and goes to the kitchen. He takes his phone and plugs in the earphones before calling Hunk. 

 

He starts rambling angrily about what has happened at the shelter while taking out pots and ingredients for lunch. 

 

Hunk and Pidge give their enraged thoughts as well, Pidge being more angry than Hunk and cursing out Nyma in ways only Pidge can. Lance honestly does not want to know what Pidge would to her if they ever met her. 

 

After his rage settles, he tells them about Keith in a softer way. His mood visibly improves and the happy smile is back on his face. He doesn't even hear the door opening and closing nor does he hear when Keith exits the bathroom and takes a seat on a stool at the counter. 

 

Lance jumps and yells when he turns around to set the plates and sees Keith there. He's looking a lot better; his hair and ears are fluffy and clean and still dripping a little bit, his hands now rest on his lap as he doesn't have to cover his chest with the oversized t-shirt. Lance's heart melts and he wishes to wrap Keith up in a blanket and take care of him forever.

 

“You look better,” he says, still smiling. His call with Hunk and Pidge ended just before Keith came out of the bathroom so the smile is still on his face. 

 

“Thank you. For everything,” Keith mumbles, looking at his lap. 

 

Lance's smile falters for a moment; he really wants to see those violet eyes, but he understands it's not easy for Keith. 

 

He puts the plates in their places and a pot of chicken soup in the middle. 

 

They eat in silence, the only sounds being the scraping of spoons on the plates. Once they've finished the soup Lance brings new plates and a pan of potatoes and fish. 

 

“I wasn't really sure what you liked so I made what I intended to for myself,” Lance says nervously. He really didn't expect he'd get an abused hybrid, so he didn't really know what to do. 

 

Keith just shakes his head, making his hair flap around his face and Lance notices it's a little longer on the back. Like a mullet.

 

“This is more than fine, thank you,” Keith replies, slowly putting potatoes and two fish on his plate. 

 

Lance watches him eat with vigor, and realises he probably hasn't had a decent meal in a while. It makes him mad again, but he pushes the tough aside and puts some potatoes and a fish on his plate. 

 

Lance finishes first and takes his plate into the sink. He opts to just watch as Keith enjoys eating, hoping Keith won't find it creepy. There is just something about him that draws Lance in. It could be the fact that he was treated badly at the shelter and Lance wants to make up for that. Yes, that's probably why Lance can't take the smile off of his face. 

 

When Keith empties his plate Lance takes it to the sink and stores the leftovers into the oven. He sits back across Keith and sighs. 

 

“Do you have any family?” He asks him softly. 

 

Keith shrugs. “I don't know. I think I might have a brother, but I'm not sure. The shelter picked me up from the streets about seven years ago…” he trails off, looking to the side. 

 

Lance takes a hint and stops asking. “Okay. You can go and nap if you want, either in my room or on the couch, and when you wake up we'll go get you some new clothes. That sounds good?” 

 

Keith raises his head and looks at Lance for the first time. Lance's heart skips a beat. 

 

He opens his mouth to say something but changes his mind and closes it.

 

“May I take the couch..?” 

 

“Of course, go ahead. I'll be in my room, shout if you need me.” Lance shoots him one last time and retreats to his bedroom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit shorter but I did write it earlier than I planned to. Leave kudos and comments, I love those!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another one folks! Thank you all so so so much for all the comments, I am really glad you're liking this fic! I hope you'll like this chapter as well!

After they went shopping for Keith’s clothes, the two returned home with three full shopping bags. Lance's hands were marked with red indents that the bags left and he sighed as he dropped them onto the couch. 

 

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Keith eyeing the bag with the new binder in. He turned over his shoulder with a smile. “You can go and try it on,” he said. 

 

Keith's ears perked up immediately and he took the binder out eagerly. 

 

Lance laughed as he practically ran to the bathroom. He took the bags and relocated them to a corner of the room where they wouldn't get in the way. With how skittish Keith had been earlier Lance doubted he would want to sleep in the same bed as him, so until that is figured out the bags would just have to be out of the way. 

 

He went to the kitchen and heated up the potatoes from lunch; he was too tired to make something new. 

 

When he heard the door of the bathroom opening, he turned around to see Keith beaming, all his teeth on display and ears perked up. His tail swished behind him happily, but most importantly his arms were by his sides and his chest flat. 

 

“You look good,” Lance commented. He still had on Hunk's shirt, but Lance couldn't deny how good he looked. 

 

“Thank you,” Keith smiled. “And I mean, for everything. For getting me out and taking care of me.” 

 

“You don't have to thank me,” Lance smiled, feeling his heart jump around in his chest. He wanted to add “everyone would have done the same”, but he remembered how Keith looked in that cage and the fact that he's been there for seven years, so he bit his tongue and served Keith a plate of potatoes. 

 

“But I do. Everyone else who came to that shelter always picked anyone but me, and after a while the workers picked up on that and began treating me like shit. That only worsened my chances of finding a home..” Keith trailed off, tears gathering in his eyes. He looked to his lap, his hair falling in his eyes. His shoulders began to shake as he started crying and Lance felt his heart break. 

 

Dropping the fork on his plate Lance got up and went to Keith's side of the table. Slowly, he put one hand on his shoulder giving Keith space to move away if he wanted. But Keith leaned into Lance, his head falling to Lance's chest as he continued to cry. 

 

“Hey, shh, it's okay. You have me now and I promise I’ll take care of you. You'll always have a home here.” Both of Lance's arms were around Keith then, one going through his dark hair while the other rubbed comforting circles on his back. 

 

“Thank you,” Keith rapsed out when he calmed down enough to talk. He moved away from Lance enough to look at him and Lance's knees almost gave out. His eyes were the most brilliant shade of violet that went incredibly well with his dark hair and Lane was weak. 

 

“Always,” he smiled and returned to his meal with his heart still doing cartweels in his chest. 

 

    After that they lounged on the couch, Keith taking a nap and Lance texting with Hunk and Pidge. He had to make an appointment at the vet as soon as possible and since Hunk was close with the workers of the Altea’s Vets because of his girlfriend, he could ensure Lance gets the appointment as soon as tomorrow. 

 

After receiving confirmation about the appointment, Lance gets up from the couch and heads to his room. He puts a blanket over Keith as he passes the couch and has to restrain himself from running his hand through Keith’s hair. They aren’t there yet. 

 

In the middle of the night Lance is woken up by sounds of whimpering and crying coming from his living room. He gets up quickly and takes a baseball bat from beside his bed in case it’s an intruder and goes to the living room. 

 

What he sees there isn’t an intruder, but Keith thrashing and screaming on his couch. His claws are out, his tail swishing uncontrollably behind him. Lance drops the bat and rushes to Keith, kneeling by his head. He gently grips Keith’s shoulders which makes Keith scream even more. 

 

Despite it, Lance holds on and shakes Keith until his eyes fly open and he jerks awake. 

 

‘’Hey, you’re okay, you're safe,’’ Lance whispers, making sure the grip on the hybrid’s shoulders isn’t too hard. 

 

 

Keith’s ears are slicked back against his bowed head, chest rising up and down as he takes deep breaths. He pulls his knees up and hugs his arms around them, burying his head in his knees. 

 

Lance sits next to him, hands on his shoulders gently rubbing through the fabric of Hunk’s shirt.

 

‘’I’m sorry,’’ Keith whimpers after a few minutes. His breathing has returned to normal, but his shaking hasn’t stopped. 

 

Lance’s heart breaks. Hybrids are supposed to be treated like companions, like friends, not like garbage. Whoever ruined Keith like this is a monster, and if Lance ever finds them he will make them pay. 

 

‘’It’s okay, shh, you’re okay, I promise,’’ Lance says, and keeps repeating it until Keith slumps onto his shoulder and falls asleep again. Lance sighs, slowly raising his hand and resting it on his head. He doesn’t move, letting Keith know he’s safe and protected. 

 

That’s how Lance wakes up the next morning; his hand numb from being underneath Keith’s head and back sore from being on the floor. But Keith’s soft and steady breathing reminds him it was worth it. 

 

Slowly, he pulls his hand away and smiles when Keith whimpers, reaching for it. 

 

‘’Sorry buddy, I gotta go,’’ he whispers and manages to get up and go to the bathroom. He takes a painkiller, takes a piss and brushes his teeth then heads to the kitchen. 

 

His phone rings before he even manages to take out the pan for pancakes and he sighs, picking up the phone from the counter and answering Hunk’s call. 

 

‘’Hey, can Pidge and I come over today to see Keith? The gremlin over here hasn’t stopped pestering me about it,’’ Hunk says and Lance can hear Pidge grumbling about the nickname in the background. 

 

‘’Good morning to you too Hunk, I’m good, how are you?’’Lance replies sarcastically rolling his eyes. 

 

‘’Yeah, yeah, g’morning, whatever. Can we come over?’’ 

 

‘’I’ll have to check with him first, he’s had a horrible nightmare last night so he’s still asleep. I’ll let you know when we get back from the vet.’’ Lance puts the phone between his shoulder and ear and begins taking out the pan and the bowl he needs. 

 

‘’Oh, shit, he okay?’’ Hunk asks. Lance hears a faint, concerned ‘’ Whait what happened?’’ from Pidge. 

 

‘’I think so, he slept fine after I woke him up and stayed with him.’’ He cracks the eggs into the bowl and reaches for the flour. He hears Hunk telling Pidge what happened and their soft ‘’oh shit’’. 

 

‘’Oh damn man, sorry, we didn’t know. Hit us up later and tell us how things are with him.’’ 

 

‘’It’s fine, don’t worry about it,’’ he waves a hand and rolls his eyes at himself as he realises Hunk and Pidge can’t see him. ‘’I gotta go make breakfast, see ya later.’’ 

 

‘’See ya bud.’’ Hunk hangs up after which Lance throws his phone somewhere to the side and proceeds making breakfast. 

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you guys have no idea how close i was to deleting this story two hours ago   
> but i saw your old comments and how much you liked it that i decided to continue, but i can't promise you frequent updates, i'll do my best to post as soon as i can though.   
> leave kudos and comments - they really do mean a lot   
> love you all, enjoy <3   
> also, i apologize for any mistakes, it's very late and i have a migraine so try your best to just ignore them unitl i come back and edit

‘’What exactly are they going to do to me there?’’ Keith asks shyly as Lance drives them to Altea’s Vets. This time he sits in the front with Lance, nose buried in the collar of one of his new sweaters. 

 

By the shaking of his hands, Lance could figure he hadn’t really been to a vet in a while. It only angered Lance more and he made a mental note to send an angry E-mail to the boss of the shelter and then to animal control. 

 

‘’Nothing bad, I promise. They’re just going to take your blood and check your injuries,’’ Lance answers softly, wanting to reach out and take one of Keith’s hands into his own. He clenches his hands on the wheel instead. 

 

Keith hums, turning his head to look out of the window. He’s got a look in his eyes, like there’s something he wants to say but is either embarrassed or doesn’t know how to say it. 

 

Lance doesn’t push, just keeps humming along to the song on the radio. The drive isn’t really short; Altea’s Vets is at the dead edge of the town while Lance’s apartment is almost on the other edge.  

 

After fifteen more minutes, Keith slowly turns to Lance and opens his mouth. No words come out, though, instead he closes and opens his mouth a few more times before shaking his head and turning back around. 

 

Lance can’t take it anymore, seeing as it clearly bothers the hybrid. ‘’You can talk to me you know, whatever it is. I won’t judge you, but I can see you clearly want to say something.’’ 

 

Keith sighs, hanging his head. Lance is about to tell him again that it’s okay, but Keith speaks up. ‘’I was just wondering..’’ he trails off for a second but then continues. ‘’About testosterone.’’  He finishes quietly, uncertain. 

 

It seems so painfully obvious to Lance then; they didn’t allow him to properly transition at the shelter. He wants to smack himself repeatedly in the forehead. 

 

‘’Oh, shit, of course! Yeah, don’t worry about it, we’ll get you on T as soon as possible.’’ 

 

‘’R - really?’’ Keith’s head shoots up so fast Lance worries he got whiplash. His eyes are wide in shock and disbelief, but also trembling in fear. 

 

‘’Yes, of course. I have a trans brother, and a trans cousin, so I had to learn a lot about them and help them with some stuff. Please, don’t hesitate to ask anything you need of me - if it’s in my power I’ll make it happen.’’ Lance assures him, taking his eyes off the road for a moment to stare directly at Keith’s to show him he means it. 

 

Keith looks like he’s on the verge of tears. He nods softly which makes his hair and ears bounce slightly. He settles back down into the seat and proceeds to look out of the window with a smile on his face. 

 

When they enter the vet’s waiting room it’s fairly empty; it is the middle of the week and people are obviously working but an old couple and a small dog hybrid sit in one corner, the hybrid shivering under the blanket they’re covered by. 

 

Lance and Keith take a seat on the chairs closest to the reception desk which is absent of any workers. Lance is pretty sure Shay is supposed to be there, but he assumes Allura needed help in the back or sent her for some errand. It didn’t matter - he took a day off of work and had all the time he wanted.

 

After about five minutes Shay walks to the desk from a room on the right, telling the couple that they could enter now and that Romelle is ready for them. Lance knew very little about her, just some brief things Hunk had mentioned in his stories. 

 

‘’Okay Lance, Allura’s ready for you two as well, this way,’’ she points to the door on her left with her left hand and smiles as they pass her. 

 

‘’Lance!’’ Allura greets him cheerily in her thick British accent when she sees him. She wraps him in a quick hug before addressing Keith. ‘’I’m Allura, I’ll be your vet today. What’s your name?’’ She holds out a hand to him, smile never leaving her face. 

 

‘’Keith.’’ He shakes her hand softly and quickly, pulling away after a few seconds to bury them in the pockets of his sweater. 

 

‘’He’s a bit shy, you’ll have to be really gentle with him today.’’ Lance explains quietly. He’s known Allura for a few years; with her being Shay’s best friend she was often dragged to dates with her and Hunk by Shay who hoped to get Lance and her together. That was before Lance came out as bi and said he was just really leaning more towards boys than girls. 

 

‘’No problem,’’ Allura assures him, pointing to a metal desk in the middle of the room. ‘’I’ll just need you to sit on that while I get your blood and check for injuries. It’ll be over in a second.’’ 

 

She walks to a desk in the corner and takes out a syringe while Keith hesitantly walks towards the table. Lance follows close behind, standing beside Keith in case he needs to hold onto him. Lance knows how much his cousin hates needles and how terrified he gets, so he’s prepared for everything. 

 

Allura stands in front of Keith and rolls up his right sleeve. A concerned look crossed her face as she takes in how thin his arm is. She wraps a red belt-like band around Keith’s upper arm and presses the needle to his skin. 

 

Lance watches Keith as he watched the needle. He lets out a whimper as it breaks his skin, face scrunching up in pain. Lance takes his left hand and squeezes, letting Keith hold on as tight as he needs. Which turns out to be a lot stronger than Lance anticipated -  _ ow shit that’ll bruise for sure -  _ but he doesn’t say a word, just endures it. 

 

‘’Okay, all done,’’ Allura says as she takes out the needle and puts a band-aid over where it was. Keith exhales, his hold on Lance relaxing but he doesn’t make a move to drop his hand. 

 

‘’I have to check your body for any serious injuries, Shay told me a bit of what Hunk told her about your… previous living conditions, so I have to check if there’s anything that needs my attention, okay?’’ Lance feels Keith tensing up as she speaks and realizes immediately why. 

 

‘’Hey, it’s alright. She won’t do anything you’re not comfortable with. If you think you don’t have any wounds that are infected or need medical attention, we’ll get the T and leave, okay?’’ Lance says softly, rubbing his thumb over the skin of Keith’s hand. 

 

The hybrid slowly breathes out and his shoulders slump. ‘’I can’t say that myself, I’m no doctor, but they didn’t beat me or anything. The others just scratched me a lot and the cage wasn't the most comfortable place to be in, but nothing hurts and nothing’s broken so I think there’s no need.’’ 

 

Allura nods her head, understanding. ‘’Okay, I trust you, it’s your body. You mentioned testosterone?’’ At the question, she turns to Lance with a raised eyebrow. 

 

‘’Yeah, they weren’t really accepting of Keith at the shelter..’’ Lance trails off, clenching his teeth as anger courses through him again. 

 

Allura nods and walks towards a cabinet behind them. She takes out a bottle and few needles from her desk and gives them to Lance. 

 

‘’I won’t charge you for this first bottle, it’s on me.’’ She puts her hand up before Lance has a chance to object. ‘’Shh, it’s fine. It’s not cheap and I know you’ll need all the money you can get. This should last about a month and a half, once every week in your leg, alright?’’ She tells Keith the last part to which he nods in understanding. 

 

‘’Thank you, I owe you one,’’ Lance says, pulling her in for a hug. 

 

‘’I’ll come to collect, don’t worry.’’ She laughs and shoos them out of the room. 

 

‘’Let’s go home.’’ Lance pulls Keith by the hand that he still hasn’t let go and they leave the building and start the drive back to his apartment. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I have two other books to work on but I hit a writer's block so this happened. I hope you liked it, kudos and comments are more than welcome! And apologies for the mistakes, it's 1:30 in the morning and I can't bring myself to re-read this now.


End file.
